Date: May 11, 2023
Players: Harek the Theurg, Thror the Outcast

Harek the Theurg and Thror the Outcast signed on with some other adventurers in Veihüs, seeking something from Castle Erohring. They marched with Daan the Fighter and Hall the Magician, arriving at Castle Erohring without issue. Upon arriving on the edge of the complex, they scouted for a safe way in.

Turn One: Scout (ob 2) Success – Thror the Outcast

Thror led the party up a creek bed, finding a stewards access gate hidden amongst the rocks. The gate was locked, and seemed a bit rusted through disuse. Despite this, Harek the Theurg thought that he might be able to gain access.

Turn Two: Criminal (ob 2) Success – Harek the Theurg

The iron gate swung open as Harek put his thieves tools away. Daan and Hall proceeded into the chamber, lighting a torch and handing it to Harek to carry. They arrived in a dusty storeroom, filled with boxes, bags, and dried gourds. A doorframe is hidden behind a stack of crates and refuse. Daan ordered Thror to clear the path.

Turn Three: Laborer (ob 2) Fail – Thror the Outcast

As Thror picked up a stack of old wooden boxes, one of the planks collapsed under his hand, shifting the balance. The stack of crates fell, clattering loudly. From the blocked door, a muffled groan was heard. Then something began testing the door, trying to enter into the chamber. Daan readied his sword and ordered the others to take up offensive positions. A large wererat bust through the door, hissing and bearing snarp teeth. Harek tried to convince Daan that they should talk with the creature instead.

Turn Four: Persuade (vs. test – five dice) Fail – Harek the Theurg

Daan swung at the beast with his sword, but the wererat skittered around the room to avoid the threat. The beast spoke to the adventurers, proclaiming himself to be very hungry and that he had been imprisoned in the storeroom for days. He said he was the old castillian of the castle, but that he had been cursed. Harek gave the rat a bottle of wine, which he chugged immediately. He offered to guide the party through the castle, saying that a large battle had just been fought above. He claimed that he could smell corpses, but hadn’t been able to access the room since he had been locked out. The party followed him, but he led them into a room slide-trap.

Turn Five: Health Tests (ob 3) – Thror Passed, Harek Failed

Harek was made angry by this betrayal. Thror and Harek ended up pulling themselves up onto the ledge beside the trap, but Daan and Hall rolled out of sight into a tunnel below. The wererat, after triggering the trap, escaped through the wooden door and locked the door with a wooden reinforcement on the far side.

Date: May 4th, 2023
Players: Varg the Magician, Lorne the Guide

The blue man had appeared by some magic, providing a portal into a sandy desert abyss. He invited Varg and Lorne to follow him so that they could talk. The players followed the blue man through the desert, they both became hungry and thirsty while navigating the dunes and arid wasteland. After some time, they arrived at a cliff-face which had been carved into a temple entrance. They followed him into this temple, and immediately the heat of the day seemed to diminish. A natural spring seemed to fill a carved fountain, the players drank and filled their waterskins.

The blue man talked with Varg and Lorne, saying that they owed him a favor in exchange for drinking his water. The blue man asked the players to return to the castle and kill a gnoll who had once served the blue man, but had neglected to keep his vows of service. Specifically, they were to take the enchanted tongue from the gnoll, and return it to the blue man. Additionally, Varg traded the spell-book of Magister Blanc to the blue man, in exchange the blue man empowered Varg’s bell to cast the spell “swarm.”

Upon leaving the temple, the players found themselves magically returned to Castle Erohring in the bog. Immediately, they heard a patrol of gnolls in the hallway. They attempted to hide, but Varg failed. Lorne snuck through the hallways behind the gnolls, as they marched captive Varg to meet their leader. In a courtyard below, the gnolls called their leader out of the ruined remains of the castle’s temple. Varg told the gnoll that the blue man had sent him. The gnoll asked Varg if the blue man was his master, and three times Varg affirmed it. Then Varg found himself magically recovered from his prior injury. Varg spoke the keyword of the bell, hoping to kill the gnolls with his magic.

Lorne got the idea, lighting the two black tallow candles from his pack and invoking the blue man to come to their aid. Soon, the candles issued forth a thick smoke that made it impossible for anyone to provide help in combat – being unable to see clearly where a friend or foe stood.

In a heated combat, all five gnolls fell to the predations of Lorne’s jambiya dagger and Varg’s magic. Unfortunately, Varg and Lorne were so injured by the fight that they died besides the beastial men.